£17 Million New Gorbals Health & Care Centre officially opened by Cabinet Secretary for Health
The state-of-the-art £17 million New Gorbals Health and Care Centre was officially opened today (Wednesday, 03 April) by Jeane Freeman MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health & Sport.
Opened to the public in January, the centre provides improved access to a range of primary care services including:
Four GP practices
- Physiotherapy
- Podiatry
- General and public health dental services
- Specialist Children’s Services
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHs)
- Alcohol and drug recovery services
- Social work services
The centre also has several clinical rooms which will host visiting services such as ante natal, speech and language therapy, dietetics and a number of health improvement services including the Quit Your Way smoking cessation service.
Local arts organisation Wave Particle oversaw the delivery of an arts strategy which has been directly generated by, or reflects, the lives and experiences of people who live, work and use health and social care services in the Gorbals.
The artwork is designed to enhance both the external and internal feel of the centre to increase wellbeing, improve peoples’ experience of visiting and encourage a sense of community ownership of the building.
One of the most striking art works is the series of digital portraits on display throughout the building, in the style of a gallery. The artist captured hundreds of photo portraits of local people, including many of the staff, so many of those using the centre may well see their portraits during visits.
During her visit, the cabinet secretary visited staff across services including Specialist Children’s Services, the Dr Gordon’s GP practice, social work and the staff offices.
Jeane Freeman MSP said: “I’m delighted to officially open New Gorbals Health and Care Centre; it’s a tremendous new facility.
“A key part of our vision for the health service is to enhance our community health services. We want to see GPs empowered to play an enhanced role, leading multi-disciplinary teams of health professionals.
“The New Gorbals Health and Care Centre is the perfect place in which this vision can become a reality and I am sure it will serve the local community well for many years to come.”
John Brown, Chairman of NHSGGC, said: “I am delighted the Cabinet Secretary has officially opened this £17 million facility. It is a fantastic addition to the area, providing the local residents of the Gorbals with a wide range of modern health and care services under one roof.
“Undoubtedly, the new centre is a valuable addition to the community as it is a purpose built, bright, modern and fully accessible building. Services are fully integrated meaning it provides an opportunity to reshape health and social care from a patient and service user perspective.
“We have recently opened new health and care centres at Eastwood, Pollokshields, Maryhill and Possilpark. This new centre represents the latest investment in our health and care services and it, along with those others, is central to our commitment to deliver the highest quality, person centred and locally based care as possible.”
David Williams, chief operating officer, Glasgow City Health & Social Care Partnership, said: “This new centre is contributing to the ongoing regeneration of the Gorbals as well as making a real contribution to local residents’ health.
“It is a marked improvement on the old centre thanks to a better lay out and modern facilities which are already providing better access to the wide range of services.
“The week after the centre opened we carried out a survey with patients, users and visitors. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive with 100% of people saying that the centre represents a huge improvement on the previous facilities.
“This early positive feedback from local people and visitors underlines the core HSCP principle that co-locating health and social care services together will have a huge positive impact, not just on patients and users but also on staff.”
Iain Marley, Chief Executive, hub West Scotland, said: “We are proud to have led the design, construction and handover stages of this important development. We know from our experience as development manager for award winning primary health and social care facilities that the Gorbals Health and Care Centre will have a hugely positive and transformational impact on the local community. This is the fifth project that we have completed for Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS, with four more projects in either construction or development. We are grateful for the brilliant efforts by the client and hub West partnership team members that made it possible.”
Morgan Sindall was appointed by hub West Scotland as the main contractor